Christmas Mass and the Prodigal Son's Older Brother
You can find my monthly column over at CatholicMom today. It’s called “Christmas Mass and the Prodigal Son’s Older Brother.” Head on over to check it out!
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| The Prodigal Son, sketch by Rembrandt |
Happiness Project: November Resolutions Progress Report
If you have no idea what I’m talking about, read about Our Happiness Project.
Here’s Our November Happiness Project Resolutions Progress Report:
October Resolutions Update
- Exercise
- We both completely fell off the bandwagon with this resolution. I’ve been battling a sore throat for a few weeks, and Philip’s work schedule has been crazy. We’re hoping to find a solution and get into a habit before the Christmas season is upon us.
- Sleep
- We are in bed and almost always have the lights out by 10:30
- Faith
- The nightly family decade of the Rosary & nighttime prayers around the dinner table is a well-established part of our routine
November Resolutions Update
- Couple prayer time right when we go to bed
- We are reading Day by Day With the Catechism by Peter A. Giersch. It’s a great little book with a daily excerpt from the Catechism followed by a reflection. This book has been a great way for us to get our feet wet with couple prayer time. After Philip reads the daily excerpt and reflection, he leads us in impromptu prayer followed by a Hail Mary or Our Father. I follow with some impromptu prayer of my own and close with a Hail Mary or Our Father (whichever one we didn’t pray after Philip’s prayer). Having this dedicated prayer time together before bed is helping us to grow in intimacy and learn more about what is on each other’s hearts.
2. “You can do anything for 15 minutes.” Work for 15 minutes daily on these 4 things
- 1 Shutterfly album
- I’ve had a few technological difficulties in getting our 2012 photos back on to the computer, and I’ve spent most of my time so far just figuring out how to work the program. I’m slowly making my way through our 2012 pictures. I probably won’t have the album ready to order by 11/30.
- Add & edit recipes to Paprika (recipe organizing app)
- I have all of my miscellaneous computer files on Paprika, and I’m halfway through my random Excel doc of recipes.
- Return/Draft E-mails
- I’m learning to stop letting “the perfect be the enemy of the good.” My mentality used to be that I wouldn’t bother writing an e-mail if it couldn’t be a real update. Now, I’m slooooooooowly learning that a quick check-in e-mail is better than nothing. I love having little correspondence with faraway friends and my mother-in-law throughout the week. Seeing their sweet notes in my inbox are such a pick-me-up.
- Decide one & prepare activity to do with the kids for the next day
- We have quite the arsenal of activities, and we’ve been having a great time!
3. Do at least 1 of the following activities daily with the kids, and do each at least once a week:
- Craft
- baking
- library
- outing
- play date
- enrichment/homeschool-esque activity
- write letters
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| Zacchaeus craft (trace hand and arm on brown paper, glue to blue paper, make leaves with thumbprints, and glue Zacchaeus in the tree). Walt abandoned this one to play with trains. |
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| “M” is for Mouse. Walt also abandoned this one! |
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| Coloring |
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| “1, 2, buckle my shoe…” (I put the printables into a file here) |
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| Playing dress-up on a play date. Walt didn’t want his photo taken while he was playing with (surprise!) trains. |
We’ve only gone to the library once this month. We delayed that trip since we had such great books still out on loan. Now, we have 17 great books (most of them about numbers since that’s what we’re working on) that we read over and over and over again! We have done plenty of crafts and homeschool-esque activities as well as outings and play dates, but we still need to write letters and do some baking. Perhaps some cupcakes are in our future this afternoon.
4. Family thankfulness
- It wasn’t working to record what we were thankful for at dinner since that was such a chaotic time. Instead, we’ve been recording what we’re thankful for on looseleaf before our family prayer time, and I store the paper in our Family Prayer Binder. We’ve missed a few nights, but having it right before family prayer time helps us to remember.
5. Budget
- Hasn’t happened yet and needs to before we start holiday shopping!
6. Will
- Also hasn’t happened yet
7. Philip’s Resolutions (I’ll rewrite them here, but I won’t evaluate them for him. If I had to guess, I think he’d say that it’s been a wild month at work and that he hasn’t done as well as he’d like, but he’s made a great effort!)
- Eat four salads a week for lunch
- Do 10 pediatrics boards questions a day
- Put away all electronics from dinnertime to kids’ bedtime (for both of us)
- Read 1-2-3 Discipline book
Sum It Up
We’ve completely tanked on a few resolutions this month (exercise, budget, will, letter writing), but we’ve done pretty well on most (“you can do anything for 15 minutes,” variety of activities with the kids), and even nearly mastered some (family prayer time, sleep by 10:30, couple prayer time, and family thankfulness).
We are still enjoying our Happiness Project. I think it is bringing more positive structure and purpose to our days since we are trying to reach all of our resolutions. Even though it’s been a rotten month in terms of Philip’s wild work schedule, the month is flying by and has been relatively peaceful. I attribute that to our improved prayer life and our well-structured days. Everyone is more well-rested, we are spending more quality time together without electronics, and I am choosing family time over housework.
I am so grateful for my devoted husband who is working doggedly at my side to make these changes for the good! Here’s to a successful end of the month to our Happiness Project!
I’m Gonna Miss This
While doing the dinner dishes last night, I realized I had a choice: I could empty the clean dishes out of the dishwasher and load the dinner dishes, OR I could join Philip and the kids in the family room for some play time before bed. Before our Happiness Project, I probably would have opted for doing the dishes so that I could have a clean kitchen before bed. Last night, the new and improved me chose to leave the rinsed dishes in the sink and the clean dishes waiting to be unloaded until morning so that we could hang out as a family.
I brought the camera over and started capturing the moment. I said to Philip, “I’m gonna miss this.”
“What?” he asked.
“This. Before we know it, we’ll have kids in evening activities, kids staying up until 9 working on homework, and we won’t have this time anymore. We won’t get to just hang out as a family after dinner, and we won’t have our hour of couple time before bed every night.”
So, the dishes waited. And, you know what? It’s mid-afternoon the next day, and the dishes are still waiting. It turned out the kids wanted to learn about numbers today.
There was great music, lots of dancing, sunglasses, headbands, a tutu, and some trains.
Harry slept through most of it, but he woke up happy and giggling to the show in front of him. (Those sweet little baby giggles are the best!)
In the midst of the dance party, I noticed that dust was collecting on the entertainment center, the sliding glass door was covered in our pup’s nose prints, and the walls could use a good scrubbing. I know this sounds silly, but I was so proud of myself for allowing these things to accumulate. It meant I was learning to let a few things go in exchange for more quality time as a family. Things are still fairly tidy, but more often than not, I’m picking family over housework. The balance is increasing everyone’s happiness. If I’m gonna miss this, I better keep choosing this.
To transition to sleepy time, Philip read Jane and Walt a few of their current favorites from the library.
Then, it was off to the dinner table for sharing what we are thankful for, our family decade of the rosary, and prayer time. My favorite part of this time is hearing what the kids have to say as we gather around the table. They don’t know it, but the things that they say make Philip and I have to cover our faces in laughter or raise our eyebrows in surprise. The emotional pendulum swings from sentimental and sweet to absolutely hilarious every single night.
One of our November Happiness Project Resolutions is to share what we are thankful for each day. I record these items on looseleaf and store them in our family prayer binder. When Philip asked Jane what she was thankful for last night, Jane said, “Being loved by God.” Hearing my little one say something like that in her sweetest, most sincere little voice instantly brought tears to my eyes.
Right on cue, the emotional pendulum swung from sentimental and sweet to hilarious. After everyone shared what they were thankful for, Philip announced that we were praying the 4th Sorrowful Mystery – The Carrying of the Cross, and he displayed our laminated image of the mystery. Jane looked at the picture of Jesus carrying the Cross, and she said, “Aw, poor Jesus. That looks like it is too hard. I think he needs more practice! Where is his friend, Simon?”
I’m gonna miss this.
The days are long, but the years are short.
If I’m gonna miss this, I need to keep choosing this.
I’m gonna miss this if I don’t keep choosing this.
The days are long, but the years are short.
If I’m gonna miss this, I need to keep choosing this.
I’m gonna miss this if I don’t keep choosing this.
I'm Gonna Miss This
While doing the dinner dishes last night, I realized I had a choice: I could empty the clean dishes out of the dishwasher and load the dinner dishes, OR I could join Philip and the kids in the family room for some play time before bed. Before our Happiness Project, I probably would have opted for doing the dishes so that I could have a clean kitchen before bed. Last night, the new and improved me chose to leave the rinsed dishes in the sink and the clean dishes waiting to be unloaded until morning so that we could hang out as a family.
I brought the camera over and started capturing the moment. I said to Philip, “I’m gonna miss this.”
“What?” he asked.
“This. Before we know it, we’ll have kids in evening activities, kids staying up until 9 working on homework, and we won’t have this time anymore. We won’t get to just hang out as a family after dinner, and we won’t have our hour of couple time before bed every night.”
So, the dishes waited. And, you know what? It’s mid-afternoon the next day, and the dishes are still waiting. It turned out the kids wanted to learn about numbers today.
There was great music, lots of dancing, sunglasses, headbands, a tutu, and some trains.
Harry slept through most of it, but he woke up happy and giggling to the show in front of him. (Those sweet little baby giggles are the best!)
In the midst of the dance party, I noticed that dust was collecting on the entertainment center, the sliding glass door was covered in our pup’s nose prints, and the walls could use a good scrubbing. I know this sounds silly, but I was so proud of myself for allowing these things to accumulate. It meant I was learning to let a few things go in exchange for more quality time as a family. Things are still fairly tidy, but more often than not, I’m picking family over housework. The balance is increasing everyone’s happiness. If I’m gonna miss this, I better keep choosing this.
To transition to sleepy time, Philip read Jane and Walt a few of their current favorites from the library.
Then, it was off to the dinner table for sharing what we are thankful for, our family decade of the rosary, and prayer time. My favorite part of this time is hearing what the kids have to say as we gather around the table. They don’t know it, but the things that they say make Philip and I have to cover our faces in laughter or raise our eyebrows in surprise. The emotional pendulum swings from sentimental and sweet to absolutely hilarious every single night.
One of our November Happiness Project Resolutions is to share what we are thankful for each day. I record these items on looseleaf and store them in our family prayer binder. When Philip asked Jane what she was thankful for last night, Jane said, “Being loved by God.” Hearing my little one say something like that in her sweetest, most sincere little voice instantly brought tears to my eyes.
Right on cue, the emotional pendulum swung from sentimental and sweet to hilarious. After everyone shared what they were thankful for, Philip announced that we were praying the 4th Sorrowful Mystery – The Carrying of the Cross, and he displayed our laminated image of the mystery. Jane looked at the picture of Jesus carrying the Cross, and she said, “Aw, poor Jesus. That looks like it is too hard. I think he needs more practice! Where is his friend, Simon?”
I’m gonna miss this.
The days are long, but the years are short.
If I’m gonna miss this, I need to keep choosing this.
I’m gonna miss this if I don’t keep choosing this.
The days are long, but the years are short.
If I’m gonna miss this, I need to keep choosing this.
I’m gonna miss this if I don’t keep choosing this.
November Happiness Project Resolutions (and a quick October Resolutions Recap)
Wow! Where did October go? I don’t know how it’s already November, but a new month means new resolutions to add to our Happiness Project. (If you’re wondering what in the world I’m talking about, read this post where I explain what our Happiness Project is all about!)
Like last month, it’s our hope that sharing the monthly resolutions via my blog will help hold us accountable. We are adding to the October resolutions, so that means we will continue working on the October resolutions.
In case you forgot, our October Happiness Project Resolutions were:
- Exercise
- Catherine: Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred Level 1 (Tuesday & Thursday after preschool drop-off, Saturday)
- Philip: Running/elliptical 3x per week before leaving for work (This will need to change for the month of November since Philip will be leaving EARLY in the morning to get to the hospital)
- Sleep
- Harry’s last feeding at 9:00 p.m. In bed by 9:45, lights out by 10:30.
- Faith
- 1 decade of the Rosary followed by nighttime prayers at the dinner table
Overall, I’d say October was a great month for our start to our Happiness Project. We need to make a few adjustments to our exercise resolution because of the kiddos’ schedules and Philip’s work schedule. Getting to bed earlier is wonderful! Being a night owl is for the birds–especially when the kiddos wake up at 5:30 a.m….and the newborn has a 4:00 a.m. feeding…and daylight savings times ends or starts or whatever causes us to have “fallen back” an hour. The nightly decade of the Rosary and nighttime prayers at the dinner table continues to be a regular thing around here. We even got to have our friend, Fr. Craig, join us for prayers one night when he came for dinner!
Having these resolutions gave me the energy to tackle a few nagging tasks. With a move to Lincoln on the horizon, I’m starting to purge and organize areas of the house.
- I cleaned out, reorganized, and labeled the kitchen pantry. Oh, how I love looking at the alphabetically ordered spices!
- I finally tackled the headache of going through my clothes and unburdening myself of all of the clothes I don’t fit into. Ironically, freeing myself of the clothes that don’t fit made me feel like I lost 10 pounds. Now, when I open my closet door, I can and will actually wear every item in there.
We also tried to incorporate more fun:
Onto a new month! Here we come, November!
November Happiness Project Resolutions
- Couple prayer time right when we get to bed–no dozing!
- “You can do anything for 15 minutes.” Work for 15 minutes daily on these 4 things:
- 1 Shutterfly album (To be completed & ordered 11/30)
- Add & edit recipes to Paprika (recipe organizing app)
- Return/draft e-mails
- Decide on & prepare activity to do with the kids for the next day
- Do at least 1 of the following activities daily with the kids, and do each at least once a week:
- craft
- baking
- library
- outing
- play date
- enrichment/homeschool-esque activity
- write letters
- Family thankfulness
- Share & record favorite moment of the day/what we are thankful for over dinner
- Budget
- Streamline
- Agree on limits
- Organize all passwords/account information
- Transition job to me
- Will
- Complete & make it official
- Philip’s Resolutions
- Eat four salads a week for lunch
- Do 10 pediatrics boards questions a day
- Put away all electronics from dinnertime to kids’ bedtime (for both of us)
- Read 1-2-3 Discipline book
I am working on a resolutions chart to post on the fridge that will help hold us accountable. I’ll share it as soon as it’s made. Please keep our Happiness Project in your prayers!
Do you have any Happiness Project Resolutions? Share away!
Happiness Project: October Resolutions Progress Report
Philip and I decided to get serious about changing a few things around here with our version of Gretchen Rubin’s Happiness Project. I wrote about it here. Basically, we’re doing small things to improve our own happiness to in turn increase the happiness of those around us. Philip and I decided to touch base last night before bed to see where we thought we were with our October Happiness Project Resolutions. To help hold us accountable, I thought I’d share our thoughts here.
In case you forgot, our October Happiness Project Resolutions were:
Exercise
- Catherine, 6:00 a.m. Monday, Wednesday, Friday Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred level 1
- Philip, running or elliptical 3x per week before leaving for work
Sleep
- 9:00 p.m. get ready for bed
- Lights out at 10:00 p.m.
Faith
- Weeknight family prayer time after bathtime before bed
- 1 decade of the Rosary followed by bedtime prayers at the dinner table
Let’s tackle these one by one…
1. Exercise
- Catherine: The 6:00 a.m. routine worked a few times, but my exhaustion got the best of me most mornings. The combination of the “big kids” waking up at 5:30 most mornings and Harry needing at least one feeding in the middle of the night made for one tired mama. I’m switching my routine to gain some snooze time. My new routine: Tuesdays and Thursdays once I get home from dropping Jane off at preschool and Saturday mornings, Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred, level 1.
- Philip: My sweet hubby was so supportive trying to get everyone dressed and fed in the mornings that he put himself last most days. Unfortunately, he has a tough rotation on the docket for November, so we’re still brainstorming ways that he can get his exercise in daily. For now, Philip’s goal is to run or do the elliptical 2x per week.
2. Sleep
- Harry has changed his feeding routine since his last pediatric visit. (Translation: He’s low on the percentile chart and my pediatrician would like him to fatten up before his next weigh-in. This means he’s eating longer and more frequently.) He’s having his last feeding around 9/9:30. We start getting ready for bed immediately afterward, but we should get ready for bed before I start that feeding. We’ve been in bed most weeknights before 10, but we can work harder to reach that goal. Perhaps we could try to make Harry’s feeding closer to 9, make it a goal to be in bed by 9:45, and lights out by 10:30.
3. Faith
- We have said 1 decade of the Rosary followed by bedtime prayers at the dinner table *almost* every night since making this resolution. We missed a few times because of Philip’s work schedule, date nights, events with extended family that kept the kids up too late, etc., but the family Rosary is definitely a habit. On the rare nights that we missed it, the kids asked about it. Hooray for a regular family prayer routine that is sticking!
- Things that helped our family Rosary time be successful:
- Routine
- Low lighting and candles (with the promise that each child can blow out a candle at the end if they do a good job praying)
- Rosaries with cord and plastic beads for the kiddos
- Picking battles and accepting baby steps toward reverence
- Family Prayer Binder (stored on top of the fridge) with all necessary materials
- Laminating & displaying an image of the mystery of the Rosary that we are praying on a stand (flanked by the lit candles)
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| Our family prayer binder that holds our materials |
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| Our prayer binder tabs & pockets with prayer materials |
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| One of our laminated images we display while praying the Rosary |
- Here are few photos from our family Rosary time:
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| Baby steps toward reverence… Saints in the making, right? |
So, overall, I’d say we’re doing well. We can improve each area, but we are making strides in the right direction. Our Happiness Project is off to a great start, and we already have ideas for our November resolutions.
Do you have any suggestions for a future resolution? What’s something you’re doing to boost your own happiness & the happiness of others?
